The Role of the Bass: Part One

Currently regarded as the most working bass player in NYC, Alex Claffy takes you through the many roles of the bass in the rhythm section, drawing from his years of experience with countless jazz masters. This is an intermediate level course for players who are just starting to play gigs, with tons of invaluable insight on how to best serve any jazz rhythm section. Once you’ve accumulated some vocabulary, the challenge becomes when and how to use that vocabulary. When does it make sense to go from two-feel to quarter notes? What kind of 2-feel do I play on a blues? How do I use triplet fills in my walking bass lines? And how do I deal with a drummer that plays too on top or too behind?

In this course, Alex Claffy draws from his years of experience on the bandstand with Jimmy Cobb, Louis Hayes, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Eric Alexander, Nicholas Payton—and countless others—to answer all of these questions. Any gigging bass player has a lot to gain from this course, where Alex is joined by NYC legends Victor Gould and Joe Strasser to demonstrate the various roles of the bass on any gig or jam session. The Role of the Bass: Part 1 is suitable for any bass player in any group setting!   

• The role of the bass
• Going into four
• Develop your instincts
• Playing fast
• And more!